Teach Your Children to Pray

Teach Your Children to Pray

Some of our fundamental responsibilities as parents are to teach our children about the Lord, how to be saved, how to read God’s Word faithfully, and how to pray as a part of nurturing a relationship with Him. It is a fantastic idea to make this a goal for our young people before they graduate from high school. While some parents completely abdicate themselves of any vital spiritual education obligations for their children, genuine Believers, who believe the Scriptures, understand the crucial nature of a child’s spiritual maturation (Deut. 6:1-9).We desire for the Bible and Christian prayer to be welcome in America's public schools, but let us make sure they are a prominent part of our American homes. Fewer lessons are more important than teaching our children and young people to pray and talk with God.

Note two imperatives the Psalmist of Israel empress us with. Psalm 27:14, says “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.” A few psalms later in Psalm 37:34, he says, “Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.”

These verses emphasize dependence, expectation, and patiently waiting on the Lord for answers, direction, help, guidance, and strength. It is extremely important that we teach this to our young people.  These aspects of life are a vital part of their prayer life. If we are always praying about something and never really expecting God to answer then we are teaching our children a ritual and not real prayer (Matt. 6:5-15). We desire for them to know God intimately and connect with Him habitually through prayer. So what practical steps can we take to help our young people experience intimacy with the True and Living God?

Pray Together Often as a Family

This is important because it trains the children to depend on God and to receive direction from the Lord. They start out in life depending on their parents, but as they progress and learn family prayer they begin to learn to depend completely on the Lord for all things.  They move from dependence on parents and beyond dependence on friends to dependence on a loving Heavenly Father. The resources of parents will run out, the direction and insight of friends is often insignificant also. Experience informs us that friends are often as clueless as we are.  But God’s resources are without limits and His wisdom is always available and reliable.

This is extremely important to a young person who has intentions of doing all the will of God with their lives.  They need to know that God will speak to their hearts and give direction regarding His will. Therefore wait!  So, pray as a family about major and minor decisions—college, school work and goals, relocations, new church home, friends, romantic interests, relationships, and transitions like new jobs, or new schools, and new neighbors, sports ventures, and on the list goes.

One of the benefits is they will learn from your model as a parent, and you will also help them perceive what family life should be in their own homes when they are married adults. Our young people will also learn early in life that God does honor His promises when we stand on them in faith; that He gives direction, but it is not always easy to obey Him. They will begin to discern the way of obedience leads to blessing; to trust and obey God in all things.

Set the Example by Making Every Matter a Subject of Prayer

Prayer is to be a normal daily practice and God can be engaged multiple times and in many ways throughout the course of a given day. Let prayer be habitual and natural; weave it into the fabric of everyday life.

Many times in the morning I will have a season of prayer after my Bible study and reading. I usually do this sitting in my chair in our home study. When I feel impressed to do so, I will cast myself face down on the floor/couch of our guest bedroom to pray. When our daughter was very young, she would come in and find me praying. She would play with my prayer sheets to let me know she was there. On other occasions she would simply sit quietly beside me and then whisper, “Daddy, can I pray with you?” It was the cutest thing!  I would invite her to join me and we would have a time of prayer together. I would pray, and in turn she would pray as well. I think we prayed for Sunday School classmates to be saved, our pets to be happy, and even a few dolls and stuffed animals to be blessed!  

We must realize that one of the most important things that we could teach our young people is prayer. Teach them how by doing it, teach them what to pray for by doing it.  Don’t just hold a class, do it.  Don’t merely lecture about how to trust God for things, do it. Pray before the school day, family devotions, before trips, before bed, before meals, during special events like birthdays, holidays, church events and goals, before examinations and tests, during a crisis and any other time.

Pray With Individual Family Members

This is a genuine way of showing interest in them as a person. You genuinely demonstrate that you really care for them through private prayer with them. Pray about their individual problems and challenges. Become a discerning listener, this is especially needful with your teens and young adults. Pray about the decisions immediately before them as well as the big decisions of life like cars, jobs, careers, college, courting/dating, marriage, and God’s will. Pray with your children even after times of punishment and discipline. This is important, because it helps them recognize early on their accountability to God through their parents. Such prayers should also clearly communicate love for their child after they have been properly talked to and wisely disciplined.  

Draw Your Family’s Attention to Answered Prayer           

Teach that sometimes God answers Yes, No, and Wait (Stanley). But He always answers prayer. Teach them to look and expect God to answer. Make it a habit to announce or acknowledge when and how God answered a specific prayer request. Recount previous occasions when God came through for them individually or for the family. Have a time of thanksgiving after receiving an answer from the Lord. Such exercises are healthy and reinforcing.

While there are always parents who only pray at church on Sunday morning, let us be parents who pray daily and teach our children to do so as well. Yes, there will always be parents who explain away their spiritual obligations to God and their children by saying, “I don’t want to force religion on my children.” As painful as it is, some parents will continue to demand that the youth workers and children's ministries at church be highly effective in training their children. The problem is these same parents will do little or nothing to reinforce at home what the church is trying to instill in the young people. It is as if they have subcontracted the church's youth workers and ministers to do what they refuse to do. Many Christian parents are quite loud about the need for the Bible and prayer in our public school system, but they fail to open the Bible as a family and family prayer is often superseded by television and social media outlets! I personally think the Word and prayer should be cherished first and foremost in the home. If this develops then the rest will naturally follow.
As Bible-Believing Christians, let us lay a solid foundation in our children’s lives by impressing them to become people of communication with the Most High God. I have never met a parent who regrets teaching their children to walk with God and pray faithfully. Sadly, I have met too many parents who wish they were far more diligent about teaching their children faith in God and how to talk to Him. Let us take our fundamental responsibilities seriously and train our children in righteousness. Take the initiative and start today. Teach your children to pray.